The Cough

Recently my daughter had a bad cough, so bad that she can’t sleep at night. In turn this caused her to be tired, and further worsen her condition. We then brought her to the doctors. Getting an appointment with the doctor is a story by itself, but what I am writing is about the visit that day. The doctor was very courteous and professional and I have nothing to complain against his conduct. He however thought that my daughter conditions are a bit peculiar since she has cough and rashes. The doctor then called his supervisor. She came and peered here and there before saying, “Hmm this is interesting,” which is British for I am not really sure.
The doctors then talked to each other about how it might be a Strep-A and suggested to give my daughter penicillin.
With my limited knowledge of medicine, I asked whether my daughter might be prescribed something for the cough, maybe even a nebuliser treatment. The doctor said no, and asked to come again another day. Oh bother.

I mentioned about the nebuliser, and the senior doctor placated me by saying maybe tomorrow. Defeated, I went back home with my daughter.

The interaction strike me as abit funny because the doctor seems always trying to prescribe as little as possible. I assumed that is the case since the doctors try to reduce usage/cost of medication dispensed? Children, people on benefits and senior citizens normally don’t pay for their medicine/prescriptions. But then again, not all the medications are covered by the government and most people, like me, have to pay for them. Ans yet I remember the doctor visits that I had, also prescribed very little medicine.
The opposite is true in Malaysia. Certainly not all but normally the doctors will prescribe almost anything that is related to your symptoms. You want it, we got it. One reason is probably because clinics make money on the meds, so the doctors are inclined to prescribe more medication.

However I think it has mostly to do with the culture and way of thinking. If you go to a doctor in Malaysia, and you pay RM30 plus and only got a consultation, people will complain. Might as well not come to the doctor at all, they say. There needs to be some form physical product or proof to justify the cost.
Conversely here it is often that people set appointments to see the doctor. They literally only see the doctor and talked about their health. I’m not saying that doctors here just take history and do nothing else, but the idea of not prescribed medications are not too weird.

And I think the biggest proof that the way of thinking is different is in me having a hard time reconciling these two ways of thinking and writing this post. But humans adapt so I’m pretty sure with time, I’ll come to accept that doctors don’t normally prescribe much medication. That, or I’ll buy my own damn nebuliser.

Thank you for reading.